Former Congress legislator from Budhlada, Mangat Rai Bansal was held hostage by three unidentified persons at his family-run educational institutes at Mansa’s Bareta town on Friday evening.
Bansal was thrashed and the assistants allegedly demanded a ransom of ₹50 lakh from him.
Police officials said the CCTV footage around the crime spot has been secured and teams have been constituted to follow crucial leads. Four accused reportedly came in an SUV.
Victim’s family said the incident took place at around 4 pm and none of the staff of the school and college was present at that time. In his police complaint, Bansal said three men entered his office on the pretext of a meeting and locked him inside the office.
“I did not see any arm with them but they damaged my mobile phone. One of them was filming the incident when I was being beaten up. They asked me to pay ₹50 lakh. When I said that I do not have this much money, the assistants threatened to eliminate me,” Bansal said. His wife Manoj Bala Bansal, former Mansa district Congress president, said the accused left the office after threatening Bansal to arrange ₹50 lakh in the next three days or else “face dire consequences”.
“Our family had never received any threat or extortion call. At the time of the crime, our family driver was present in the compound. Accused left the office premises without any huff,” she added.
{{/usCountry}}“Our family had never received any threat or extortion call. At the time of the crime, our family driver was present in the compound. Accused left the office premises without any huff,” she added.
{{/usCountry}}Mansa superintendent of police (investigation) Bal Krishan Singla said the preliminary investigation suggests there were four persons as three went inside Bansal while another remained in the car with its engine kept started. “We have vital clues and hope to crack the case soon,” added the SP.